The “national treasure,” Dr Maya Angelou,
among other things, poet and teacher extraordinaire, has died today in her own
home at 86 years.
She was, to say the least, a remarkable woman! Truly gifted with life
and light, graced with humility, wisdom, nobility, and, most of all, love—Dr
Maya Angelou inspired and mentored countless people not only in the United
States, but around the globe.
Tonight I watched a special on her in conversation with Oprah. I was
amazed at her resilience, reminding me again in a profound way, that as human
beings, no matter what race or nationality, we are all brothers and sisters
because we are all God’s children.
Reflecting upon how she would like to be remembered, it is as one who
loved, which is the greatest gift, surpassing all others.
“What
I would really like said about me is that I dared to love,” Angelou told an
interviewer in 1985, when asked what she'd like to read in her own obituary.
“By love, I mean that condition in the human
spirit so profound it encourages us to develop courage and build bridges, and
then to trust those bridges and cross the bridges in attempts to reach other
human beings.”
For us preachers, she also had a word of
encouragement regarding the power of the word. She told Oprah in her
conversation that words are things. Words get in the carpet, on the walls, and
inside of us. They can be life-giving. Dr. Maya Angelou’s words have indeed
been thus for countless people world-wide.
Rest eternal grant Maya Angelou, O Lord; and
let light perpetual shine upon her.
